Page 21 of Diversions With Darcy & Elizabeth

“Forgive me. Rest assured I am no less helplessly bewitched by you now than when we arrived.” His devilish smile and welcome assertion eradicated my pique.

Thank goodness. I rested my hand over my hammering heart. Yet what did this mean? I confronted Mrs. Greenwood. “Could your elixir have been defective?”

She cocked her head and viewed me with a slight smirk. “That’s an insulting question. Of course not.”

Mr. Darcy shifted to the edge of his seat. “I should be obliged, Mrs. Greenwood, if you would divulge the entire truth, so Miss Bennet may be relieved of any remaining doubts.” He gave me a tender look.

With a subtle nod, Mrs. Greenwood rested her clasped hands in her lap. “My family and I make many effective brews, Miss Bennet, but the one I gave you ’ad no power whatsoever.”

How could this be? “I do not understand. You had said you wanted to thank me, so why would you give me a useless potion?”

“Since childhood, I’ve been blessed with the second sight. When we shook ’ands, I saw into your future. I knew you’d marry your Mr. Darcy. Yet before that ’appened, you’d ’ave remained apart for many months and suffered strife, regret, and ’eartache. By giving you the potion, I brought you together sooner than fate would otherwise ’ave allowed and saved you both from unnecessary distress.”

“Oh…my word.” I shared a long look with Mr. Darcy. Her explanation made a world of sense—if I had never received the love potion, how long might it have taken me to alter my opinion of him?

I thanked Mrs. Greenwood, and we took our leave. With all traces of anguish from the past few weeks gone, I glided arm in arm with my love in a jubilant haze. A strong gale might have elevated me from the ground.

Mr. Darcy led me to a public park, and we sat together on a bench in a quiet area secluded by a sizable yew. No longer should I need to suppress my love for him. A fever surged within me in anticipation of his touch. Would he kiss me? I should ensure he did, even if I had to take the initiative again.

His pupils enlarged, and when he leaned close to me, my breath caught. “Elizabeth, pray tell me you will be my wife.”

“Yes, Fitzwilliam, I shall be honoured to marry you.”

The flickering glint in his eyes shone brighter. He removed his glove and cradled my face. His thumb stroked my chin, marking a fiery path on my skin. “I love you so much, I can hardly consider anything or anyone else. Will you marry me soon, perhaps in a double ceremony with Bingley and your sister? If your father will provide his permission, I can obtain a common license.”

“Yes, that would be ideal. I know Jane will be happy to share the day with me.” I inched nearer to him until my lips hovered near his. “I love you, Fitzwilliam.” In an instant, his mouth closed upon mine with unrestrained eagerness, sending jolts of pleasure through me. He held me close and fondled my back, exciting my flesh with an explosion of sensation. As the seconds elapsed, I grew more entranced by him—his scent, his tongue making its way into my mouth, and the firm plane of his upper body warming mine. His ministrations affected each inch of me, sending tingles to my extremities.

Never had I been more sated, nor more desirous of…more—not that I could have articulated my yearning. Well, maybe I could: I wanted more of him.

When he withdrew, I groaned in protest. His forehead lowered to mine, and his panting rivalled my own. “I have never been happier, my love. I should marry you today, if I could.”

“According to Mrs. Greenwood, we should have had to wait far longer if not for her intervention. As much as I hate to admit this, I believe her to be correct.”

His dark irises fixed upon me. “What is certain is that we are meant to be together. My life is indelibly bound to yours from this day forward.”

“How well that sounds.”

His lips found mine again, and I became lost to the marvel of him.

Who could have imagined that a love potion—a mock one at that—would bring me to such a felicitous state?

Introduction

Ifirst wrote a shorter version of this story as a Halloween promotion for my former publisher, Meryton Press. However, this is not a spooky tale; the inspiration came from an incident that occurred with my husband and me and a pair of crows, one of which required our assistance. As a fan of American gothic horror writer Edgar Allan Poe and his immortal poem, “The Raven,” I decided to make my story about ravens; crows and ravens belong to the family known as corvids. Fanciful tales involving ravens have been told in many ancient cultures. In Greek mythology, the god Apollo sent a white raven to guard his lover, Coronis. When the raven brought news of Coronis’s infidelity, an enraged Apollo scorched the raven’s plumage black, cursing all ravens thereafter to have ebony feathers.

Please note that this novella is not a sequel to "The Love Potion," but to Pride & Prejudice.

Chapter 1: The First Encounter

Wednesday, 4 August 1813

Pemberley Estate

Elizabeth Darcy

“Do you realize what day this is?” Fitzwilliam’s sonorous baritone drew my attention from the lush green foliage adorning our pastoral countryside.

Earlier that morning, the significance of this date had occurred to me. Nevertheless, I allowed a playful whim to influence my response. I met his gaze, and my head canted in a show of consideration. “Ah, yes. On this date in 1265, The Battle of Evesham occurred, part of the Second Barons' War.” At least, I think that is correct. I turned from him, and my compressed lips fended off a smile.